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Obverse : Elephant Facing left with straped oversize basket on
back with 1812 below the ground line within a dash circle.
Reverse : CEY LON on above broken by Cross
and CURRENCY below in arcs along perifery.
Crown above Panel with value in FOUR RIX-DOLLAR
Below in in banner DIEU ET MON DROIT (God and my right)
In 1977, the first example of this previously unknown gold 4-Rixdollar
pattern appeared in the offices of Abraham Kosoff (1912-1983), a
well-known rare coin dealer. While examples of the 1 and 2 Rixdollar
patterns - commissioned by Ceylon in 1812 and struck from dies made by
Thomas Wyon, Jr. at the Royal Mint in London - already were known,
the appearance of this particular coin caused a stir as to its authenticity.
Henry Grunthal (1905-2001), then curator of European and modern coins
at the American Numismatic Society and the one who researched the
coin, considered the piece to be authentic; he went so far as to
declare the gold 4 Rixdollar the Ceylonese Stella, a reference to the
famous gold US four dollar pattern of Charles E. Barber (A. Kosoff,
Authorities Authenticate Ceylon Pattern Four-Rix Dollar In Gold, Coin
World [17 May 1972], p. 2).
Less, than a month later, however, Coin World reported that the gold 4
Rixdollar pattern was found to be a modern fantasy of which 75 pieces
in a variety of metals were reportedly produced ( Recent Findings
Reveal Coin Modern Fabrication, Coin World [7 June 1972], p. 46).
Although the manufacturer of this coin was unknown at the time, it was
later discovered that it was produced by the coin dealer and author,
Frank A. Lapa (1931-1995), a known coin counterfeiter
(The E-Sylum, 2003 January 5,
V06n01a12)
and an individual with a notorious personal history
(The E-Sylum, 2006 July 30,
v09n31a32)
Auction Listings
The 600 dpi coin images from Auctions referenced displayed at 200 dpi.